On election night, Democratic campaign consultants may have been wondering, “Where did all these voters come from?” But unless the next Congress sets a legislative course over the next few months, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi may soon be wondering, “Where did all the voters go?”
The incoming Biden administration will need to navigate an extremely rough economic path ahead. Congress has struggled to reach an agreement for another round of stimulus to provide emergency relief for families and businesses. Now they must act before the “dark winter” ahead further deteriorates the economic recovery.
Warner Johnston serves as the CEO of the USA for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Before ACCA, Warner served as vice president of statewide public affairs at Empire State Development, New York State’s lead economic development agency, where he worked closely with the Governor's Office on statewide messaging and the coordination of communications strategy while conceiving and developing New York State's business portal, New York First. His prior experience includes serving as director of public affairs at New York City's Parks Department and heading communications at the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services. Warner also served as deputy press secretary under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani during 9/11.
Stacia Almquist is vice president of dental and vision for Sun Life Financial U.S.
Chris serves Infrastructure & Operations professionals as they face the unique opportunities and challenges of migrating business technology into modern, software-defined environments. He specializes in treating elements of infrastructure systems like developers treat their apps: individual pieces of code that can be dynamically shaped and remolded to handle changing business needs at will. Chris has a special passion for abstraction, automation, DevOps, and how I&O professionals and their organizational culture can evolve and capitalize on a flexible and exciting future.
Previous Work Experience
Chris comes to Forrester with 15 years of experience in infrastructure and process excellence. For the previous eight years, he worked with New York Life, designing and managing financial systems in its Investments group; managing the Investments service desk; and finally, as a key team member, implementing a new operating model for the technology organization as a whole. Prior to this, he managed infrastructure in advertising and public relations at Interpublic and the Public Relations Society of America, respectively.
Education
Chris holds a Master of Business Administration in information systems from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a bachelor’s degree in computer science and writing from Sarah Lawrence College.
Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, decreased at an annual rate of 32.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020, followed by a surged of 33.1 percent in the third quarter, in part due to earlier rounds of fiscal stimulus when businesses were offered Economic Injury Disaster Loans and forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans, and individuals received direct payments and extended unemployment benefits.
Economic experts believe the current surge is not enough to stop continued losses incurred by various segments of economy.
“While the strong bounce back in activity from the initial devastation of COVID-19 was heartening, the recovery thus far has been highly uneven, and the path ahead is highly uncertain,” said Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard in a speech last month at the Society of Professional Economists annual online conference.
This highly uneven and uncertain bounce indicates the prospect of a K-shaped recovery, where some sectors continue to recover, while others see a steady decline.
The new stimulus package must focus on the sectors facing difficulties ahead to avoid colossal damage and massive layoffs.
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, approximately 4 million small businesses — 13 percent of America’s 31 million smallest employers — have now exhausted their PPP loans, and many face permanent closure without further assistance.
According to the National Restaurant Association, the restaurant industry will lose $240 billion. U.S airlines may be forced to furlough 75,000 pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and other workers by the end of 2020 if Congress doesn’t act.
States and municipalities are now on verge of extreme shortfalls due to declines in tax revenues and rises in additional costs. Local governments that fund and operate public school systems will need more funding. “The average school district will face $1.8 million, or $485 per student, in additional costs for disinfectants, personal protective equipment and other preparations to bring students into classrooms this year,” according to the Association of School Business Officials.
The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances indicates that cash-strained households will continue to suffer as a result of continued unemployment and reduced working hours. The CARES Act did support these households either through direct payments or enhanced unemployment benefits this year, but the financial security of these households will depend on whether unemployment benefits will be extended or supplemented next year.
Therefore, it is imperative for Congress to ensure that the recovery reaches those who have been disproportionately affected. A targeted fiscal support can turn a K-shaped recovery into a broad-based, inclusive recovery to eliminate shortfalls in employment and provide a better outcome overall.
